Next Time
by calliope1975
Summary: Felicity gets an unexpected visitor one evening.


_**Just a quick drabble that popped into my head the other night. I need more Sara & Felicity interactions in my life. **_

Felicity finished rubbing moisturizer on face. She put her glasses back on careful to avoid getting residual lotion on the lenses. She hated when that happened. Her hair sat in a messy knot on the top of her head. Oliver had a family function so she had the night off. She'd taken a long, hot bath, and her exciting evening plans involved repainting her nails, hot chocolate, and finally catching up on Game of Thrones. It was time to get reacquainted with Robb Stark.

She'd changed into a pair of capri leggings and an oversized Starling City Bombers t-shirt and was heading out to her living room when she heard the tapping on her window. The curtains were drawn and heavy enough that she couldn't who or what was outside.

It didn't seem logical that a murderer would be on her 5th floor balcony tapping on her window but she'd seen enough strange things to not discount anything. She had a Taser in her dresser that she took out before slowing moving towards the window.

Slowly pulling the curtain to the side revealed a small, familiar blonde in a baseball cap.

Felicity stopped short, her face screwed up in confusion. "Sara?"

She heard a muffled, "Can I come in?" through the glass before shaking herself out of her inaction.

Opening the window, she said, "Sorry. I wasn't expecting anyone. I mean, of course, I wasn't expecting anyone on my balcony. People who visit me usually use the door."

Sara stood awkwardly with her hands in her jacket pockets as she glanced around the room. Her gaze never stayed on anything too long, but Felicity got the feeling she was cataloguing everything she saw.

It had been months since Sara had left Starling City, and she hadn't been in contact. They'd gotten along well enough, but Felicity didn't know why she was back in town. Or why she was now standing in her bedroom.

The tea kettle whistling from her kitchen startled Felicity. Sara immediately tensed and brought her arms up in a fighting stance.

Felicity held her hands up. "Whoa. I don't think we're in danger from hot water." She gestured toward her kitchen. "I'm just gonna…take care of that." She headed out to kitchen with Sara trailing after her. "I was going to have hot chocolate since it's late and coffee would keep me awake, but," she glanced back at Sara, "I'm thinking the evening calls for something more."

She pointed to a small rack of wine and raised an eyebrow.

Sara pursed her lips. "Anything stronger?"

Felicity walked to her freezer and pulled out a bottle of vodka. "Will this work?"

"Yes."

An hour later, Felicity had her feet propped on her coffee table letting her toes dry painted in a vivid pink. Sara mirrored her pose on the other side of the couch, minus the drying toes.

"I still say you should have let me do your toes." She pointed to the container filled with various colors of nail polish. "Look at all the choices…"

Sara gave her a wry look. "Maybe next time."

"I bet it's been a while."

"Yeah well, the life of an assassin doesn't leave much time for mani/pedis."

The bottle of Grey Goose sat between then over half gone. Felicity had been mixing her vodka with orange juice while Sara did straight shots, but she was still pretty sure she was way more drunk.

Sara ran a hand over her face. "I'm not quite sure why I came here."

Felicity nodded but didn't press her.

"I didn't have a lot of friends growing up. I mean, I had friends, just not a lot of them. And when I discovered computers, I just…got them. My parents were afraid it was too isolating, but they didn't understand. With the Internet, I had the _world_ at my fingertips. It was so freeing."

Sara spoke quietly, "I wanted to be Laurel so badly when I was little. I followed her everywhere. But the older we got; I couldn't live up to her. It was easier to go the other way. And then I made a stupid decision with Ollie, and well, you know what happened."

"What you did, yeah it was stupid, and if you were my sister, I definitely wouldn't have wanted to talk to you for a while, but…you didn't deserve what happened to you. You know that, right? Cheating with your sister's boyfriend doesn't earn you five years of hell."

"Maybe. But the things I've done since then…"

"Still don't mean you aren't worthy of your family's love. You did what you had to in order to survive. I won't judge you for that. And Detective Lance, um, your dad, didn't care, did he? He was just happy you were alive."

"You don't know what I've done. And that…sometimes, I don't regret it." Felicity wouldn't soon forget the look on Sara's face. The wounded visage bracing for condemnation.

"When I signed up with Oliver, I was adamant about only going after those who deserved it. And I glossed over the people he killed. Somewhere along the way, I guess I stopped caring because we were doing something good. I still have to remind myself of that. We…we do this to try to make it better for people. So do you. You aren't that person you were before."

"I might be," she said, low. "There was someone…someone I was…close to in the League. She wants me back."

"You think they'll go after your family? That's why you're here?"

"I know they will, they did before. I thought I could lead them away, but…I can't run anymore."

"So don't. You know Oliver will help you. Me. John."

"It's not that simple. These aren't people you can reason with or walk away from."

She sighed. "Well, whatever you decide. We're here."

A small smile played around Sara's lips. "Thank you."

"You know, I was a fan before we knew it was you. Or before, Oliver knew he knew you. You know what I mean. When I read that you were going after men who were targeting women. I…I appreciated that.

Oliver and Diggle, they don't, they can't understand. Sometimes, I walk down the street and I feel like I need a shower from the comments and the looks. There's a level of…vulnerability, I guess, that women have to live with every day that they'll never understand. Oliver had it rough, horrible. Hellish and I can't even begin to imagine. But I think in some ways, maybe it was…maybe it might have been worse for you."

Sara stared at her, frowning.

"I'm sorry. I talk too much and make assumptions. I…"

"No. No. You're not…wrong." She took a deep breath. "Is it okay if I crash here? Are you sure? I can find…"

"No! It's fine. Let me get you some blankets."

She gathered a pillow and some spare blankets and waited until Sara got settled before turning off the lights and heading into her bedroom.

Felicity wasn't surprised to find Sara gone when she woke the next morning. But a small smile appeared when she found what was left on top of the folded blankets. Sitting next to a bottle of bright yellow nail polish that she vaguely remembered buying on a whim was a note with a messy scrawl that simply said "Next time."


End file.
